Shawn Spears Goes Off After Winning North American Title On WWE NXT

By Eric Mutter
Shawn Spears trying to stay awake Jose Devillegas/Getty Images

It took two decades, a few name changes, and three stints in WWE, but finally, Shawn Spears can call himself a champion. The long-time veteran defeated Tony D'Angelo to become new NXT North American Champion in a chaotic main event, which saw Spears take advantage of brawling between D'Angelo's Family and Spears' allies Izzy Dame, Niko Vance, and Brooks Jensen to send D'Angelo crashing into Spears' steel chair to set up his victory.

Those shady tactics were brought up almost immediately when Spears was interviewed by a returning Kelly Kincaid in an exclusive interview for X. And on the night of his biggest WWE triumph, a fiery Spears wasn't going to take Kincaid's accusations that he won only because D'Angelo suffered an injury.

"You couldn't let me have it, could you?" Spears said. "Here I stand, the new North American Champion, and you can't just give it to me. A year to the date since I returned, and you can't just say 'Congratulations, you earned it.' Exactly like everybody else over the course of 23 years, you can't just give it to me, can you? Whether you like it or not, this happened. I am your new North American Champion. Love it, learn to enjoy it. 

"But a man is only as strong as the people behind him. And there is nothing more important on this planet than family. This symbolizes many things. It symbolizes that I'm a top star here in 'NXT.' It means that I have ascended the ladder. What this also means is that everything I've been talking about to Izzy Dame, to Nico Vance, to Brooks Jensen, is validated. It's validated by this championship. It's validated by me. And together, this is only the beginning."

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